Oxfam welcomes President Obama's food security announcement

WASHINGTON, DC — Oxfam America welcomes President Barack Obama's announcement at the G20 meetings in London today of a doubling of assistance to help the poorest people around the world cope with ongoing hunger. Oxfam America president Raymond C. Offenheiser made the following statement in response:

"We are pleased to see President Obama follow through on his commitments to reassert US leadership and address the challenges facing nearly a billion people around the world without enough food.

"Global hunger and poverty is a human tragedy exacerbated by reduced investments in agricultural production worldwide and the growing impacts of climate change. Despite the world’s attention on the financial crisis, a food crisis prevails for one in six people on this planet who go hungry on a daily basis.

"President Obama has taken an important step today in committing resources to address the global food crisis—an essential element of a larger effort to alleviate global hunger and poverty. We look forward to working with the Obama administration in framing this larger strategy.

"President Obama joins a growing chorus in Congress, led by Senators Richard Lugar (R-IN), Robert Casey (D-PA) and John Kerry (D-MA), who believe the time is ripe to take action on global hunger and poverty. Just this week, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee passed the Global Food Security Act which addresses global food insecurity with new aid, new tactics, and renewed investment in developing country agriculture."